I live my ambition; I am a teacher. My days are spent in a light-filled classroom, opening to a cheery garden, a seagull’s cry from the great Pacific Ocean. Over these many years my students have walked from my classroom out into the great world, creating their own unique imprint with their footprints.
As a young teacher, right out of UCLA graduate school, I had the verve and vigor that only a brand-new teacher can own. In my youthful ignorance, I was sure that I would set an immediate fire, indeed a conflagration in the minds of my little students. Thankfully, I had the loving guidance of older veteran educators, who oversaw and sustained me during the early years. (Including the support of Cotsen’s Jerry Harris, my first principal who hired me right out of UCLA!) Those beginning days in my career taught me a lot about persevering through difficulties, celebrating successes, and not giving up. Setbacks can happen every day in teaching but much like a sword forged on the blacksmith’s anvil by fire, so too, that fire that I sought to ignite in young minds, was sometimes the fire of failure which helped to temper me as a person and educator.
Midway in my teaching career, I had a mistaken inkling that perhaps I had reached the proverbial mountaintop of learning. Thankfully, at that very time, Cotsen came into my life, this is what I would call a moment of grace, for it was exactly what I needed as a teacher. It was through the experience of being a Cotsen Fellow, that I began the path to not only deeper pedagogical learning, but a deeper understanding about the human condition. I was learning to not be afraid of making mistakes and I began to realize that true learning is messy, circuitous, and not at all a simple straight line from point A to point B.
Cotsen opened my classroom door wide and the world walked in…other teachers, mentors, Cotsen staff, visiting educators, my world expanded. I began to understand how learning for children as well as teachers does not occur in isolation. Young teachers are still close to their university education where they collaborate and get feedback. But what about teachers in mid-career? It is easy to stagnate without collegiality and other minds and eyes to share with. And, that is a big part of what Cotsen did for me, Cotsen helped me to steer forward.
Besides opening up a world of people coming to my classroom, the professional development that Cotsen provided was nonpareil. In addition to mentor support and collegial support, the grant money I was awarded by Cotsen, helped me to begin a tradition of going to study at Teachers College, Columbia University. I have now been attending institutes in reading and writing there for well over ten years on a regular basis. And at TC, I meet engaging, interested teachers and staff from all over the world! I’ve discovered events on social media, like educational Twitter Chats, and one in particular #G2Great, that I learned about at TC. So, I can thank Cotsen for that too! Visitors from our school district come to my classroom so that they can learn more about reading and writing workshop. So, I’ve actually stopped being nervous about people coming to watch me teach. I can thank Cotsen for that as well. And, Cotsen has also asked me to facilitate a reading and writing network in LA for Cotsen alumni. You might even say Cotsen has a bit of a domino effect in an infinity sort of way to my world of learning. This to me is a miracle in the world of education!
Educators, our jobs are not always easy, but because of Cotsen, we have been provided an opportunity so that we need never feel alone in our proverbial classroom walls. We can be buoyed by the strength of many educators just like us who strive to make this world a better place.
Thank you Cotsen, you have helped me by taking my hand and walking with me on this life long journey. As I said, I live my dream; I am a teacher. But I am not alone and neither are you. A wide community of educators is here with a welcoming spirit. I am grateful.